Spring Gardening In Toronto

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Toronto .... Spring Gardening...

A Woman's Touch Landscaping

              Spring is a great time to really appreciate the garden in a climate like Toronto where the winter was cold and any new growth is a testament to the coming warmer weather. So many things to do to prepare the garden. 

Spring Clean Up

  Spring flowering shrubs should not be pruned until after they have bloomed. Most spring flowering shrubs bloom on old wood. If you wait to long after they have bloomed you risk cutting the blooms for the following year. Summer and fall flowering shrubs can be pruned in late winter or very early spring. Great idea to prune your shrubs to maintain their place in the garden. Removal of dead and damaged diseased wood. Removing cross Stems. Pruning forces new growth, better flowers the following year. Most plants have a great look for natural shapes. 

A Woman's Touch Landscaping Forsythia Pruned Natural

List of a Few Spring Flowering Shrubs

azaleas  
forsynthia
virginia sweetspire
mock orange
ninebark
quince
rhododendrons
spring flowering roses
spring blooming spirea
lilacs
vibrunums

Summer Blooming Shrubs

butterfly bush
trumpet vine
bush honeysuckle
smooth hydrangea
repeat blooming roses
summer blooming spirea

Pruning Comment About

The process of removing stems at their point of origin is known as thinning, while shortening a stem from the top is known as heading. Technically, shearing is just making a lot of heading cuts. Thinning cuts are preferable because they open the shrub up to sunlight and air circulation. Heading cuts result in a profusion of growth below the cut that creates a wall of growth on the outside of the shrub that blocks sun from the interior of the shrub and impedes air circulation. Even formally sheared hedges should be opened periodically to encourage new growth from inside the plants.